It seems like a long time since The Flying Nun label spawned NZ Velvet Underground inspired leftfield pop bands The Bats, The Clean and The Chills. Now, in Auckland, there seems to something of a NZ renaissance with The Ruby Suns as leader of the pack. Personally chosen by The Shins to be their main support act on all dates on their Australian and New Zealand tour in August '07. The Ruby Suns takes equal levels of inspiration from the modern indie DIY approach (Apples in Stereo, Yo La Tengo) and the grandiose productions of the 60s and 70s eccentrics Van Dyke Parks, Curt Boettcher etc. The songs focus on a peculiar range of subjects, which stretches from main songwriter Ryan McPhun's prevarication about which shipping company to use (“Look Out SOS!") to the empathetic story of a lone Kenyan zebra ("Maasai Mara") or the amalgamation of a skateboard wheel and a non-electric vacuum cleaner ("Trepidation Pt2"). For fans of: Beach Boys, The Shins, Yo La Tengo, Apples In Stereo and Beachwood Sparks.